The Progress of Man from Advanced Commentary to Sophomoric Opinion

November 01, 2009

Since the death of Daido Roshi, I've been re-reading a couple of his books. This afternoon in Cave of Tigers, I came across a dharma encounter that struck me especially hard. Recently I feel especially aware of my own human imperfections. I neither regret nor lament them, but I've been noticing them more and more. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about embracing our imperfections, loving them as we would anything else about us and others. But I've wondered, what exactly is the relationship between our own imperfections and the enlightenment of all sentient beings? Are even enlightened Buddhas sometimes imperfect? Is it possible for someone to become enlightened, but then keep making the same dumb mistakes?

So this afternoon I found this passage in Cave of Tigers, by John Daido Loori, Roshi. I hope no one will mind me using it here. I think it goes a long way toward answering the question for me, so I thought I'd share it.

STUDENT: Is it true that zazen itself is enlightenment?

TEACHER: Yes.

STUDENT: So, when I sit and I'm falling asleep, or I'm daydreaming, or I'm not watching my thoughts, is my zazen enlightenment?

TEACHER: The very first thing the Buddha said upon his enlightenment is that all sentient beings are already enlightened. Obviously that includes our sleeping, our wakefulness, our intelligence, our stupidity. Most people have the idea that enlightenment is somewhere other than where they stand, so they run around looking for it. What Master Dogen is saying is that the process, zazen, and the goal, enlightenment, are not two things, any more than absolute and relative are two things. Form is emptiness, emptiness form. Delusion is enlightenment, enlightenment is delusion. Good and bad are the same thing. It doesn't compute logically, so what is it?

STUDENT: Yes, I think I'm definitely getting stuck on that.

TEACHER: That's because you're trying to understand it by linear, sequential thought. The fact that you can't understand it doesn't mean that it's not so. Anything else?

STUDENT: No. Thank you for your answer.

TEACHER: May your life go well.

It's funny how so many of the questions I have about the nature of the Buddhadharma lead us back to the Heart Sutra. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

August 02, 2007

Recently, I was asked to write a message for the devotees at Chong Mei Temple, something about the Monastic Retreat that would be short enough to be included in the monthly newsletter. What I wrote basically follows the line of the "Notes, Part 1" I posted below.

But just in case it's of help to anyone in their practice, here's my letter:

The Challenge

As I wasn’t raised in a society that places a value on monastic service, I’d never heard of a monastic until a few years ago, when I first began studying Buddhism. I wasn’t sure what to expect when Master Hong invited me to attend the Short-Term Monastic Retreat at Hsi Lai Temple. I did think it was going to be a challenge, though – and I had no idea how right I was.

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The first thing that surprised me was the level of self-discipline that is expected of a monastic. During the retreat, we were expected to observe silence at all times, maintain straight posture, and look inward rather than outward, even fold our hands a certain way while walking or eating. In all things, a monastic must remain vigilant against a wandering mind. But that was no real challenge. Lots of people can control their minds, especially if they’re avid meditators, like me. At least, that’s what I was thinking as I allowed my mind to wander.

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Of the 225 preceptees, only 55 were male – but all 55 lived in one house. Although the house had six bathrooms, all 55 men had only 40 minutes to shower and shave each day. Generally, I spent much more time standing in line waiting for a bathroom than I did showering. But that wasn’t the real challenge, either. Anyone can shower and shave quickly – the key is, you just do it quickly. And don’t worry if you nick yourself with the razor. It’ll stop bleeding in a few minutes.

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That many people living in tight quarters like that, for a week, without talking, can be a challenge in itself; but all I had to do was remember my years in the Army, and the retreat seemed easier. I still hadn’t experienced a real challenge.

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Monastics, of course, spend a lot of time studying the Dharma. Toward that end, we participated in quite a lot of sutra-copying and gatha recitations. We also attended Dharma lectures, given by some of the leading monastics in the Fo Guang Shan order. Meditation classes, for example, were led personally by Venerable Hui Chi, the abbot of Hsi Lai Temple. So there were plenty of opportunities to get to know the Dharma better; we were given about an hour each afternoon to study, so it wasn’t difficult to learn a couple of the shorter gathas and recite them before my Leading Master after a few days. Again, no real challenge.

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The precepts taken by the men (the Sremanera precepts) were different from those taken by the women. They included the precepts we’re all familiar with, about not killing, stealing or lying, etcetera – but they also included not sleeping in a luxurious bed, not singing, not eating solid food after noon, and not wearing jewelry. The lecture explaining these precepts was also given by Venerable Hui Chi. Other lectures were given by Venerables Yi Kung, Ru Yeng and Hui Sheng, and many others. With instruction from such wonderful teachers, learning aspects of the Dharma that I’d never approached before was easy.

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So what, then, was the real challenge? On the second day of the retreat, all the preceptees and Leading Masters were standing in the Main Shrine for about four hours. Not accustomed to the flat luo-han shoes of a monastic, and not accustomed to standing for hours at a time on a marble floor, I began having back spasms. After about three hours, the spasms were replaced by a searing pain that shot up and down my spine. I began to think, “What am I doing here? When will this be over? Why am I reading this stuff from this liturgy book? I don’t even know what I’m chanting.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, hoping to make the pain subside. I bent forward to relax my back, leaned far backward to stretch my aching muscles, and stopped chanting.

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I’d lost my bodhi mind.

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For me, this situation represented both the greatest challenge and the most important lesson from the Short-Term Monastic Retreat. When we worry about how uncomfortable we are, or when we fidget and check our watches, what are we practicing? Exactly which Dharma are we following when we begin to think less about what we’re doing in this present moment than about what we’ll be doing later, when this present moment is gone? For some of my fellow preceptees, this retreat was the opportunity of a lifetime, but much of it was wasted by thoughts of going home, of returning to their comfortable lives. It was almost that way for me, as I stood there in the Main Shrine on the second day. My Leading Master, Venerable Hui Zai, asked me what was wrong.

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“My back hurts,” I said, feeling sorry for myself.

He smiled. “How are you going to use that opportunity?” he asked.

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POW! There it was. There was the challenge, as if a brick had fallen on my foot. How are you going to use the adversities in your life? How will you allow them to become helpful to your practice, instead of obstructions?

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For the monastic, or even for us lay folks, difficult moments present opportunities to practice the Dharma. How can we develop strength, if we never have a situation that requires us to be strong? How can we be compassionate, if we never hurt or see anyone else hurting? There’s a reason the Truth of Suffering is the First Noble Truth and not the fourth. Suffering presents opportunities for cultivation.

In my situation, standing there in the Main Shrine, I now had a task to do. I stopped fidgeting, stood straight, and held my liturgy book correctly. I found my place, resumed reading the pinyin gathas, and started chanting again. And I focused my concentration on my breathing, on the ebb and flow of my being in the present moment. It was one of the most awake moments I’ve ever experienced. And my back didn’t hurt again for the rest of the retreat.

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The discipline at the Short-Term Monastic Retreat was less strict than the discipline imposed upon novice monastics at Kaohsiung. And novice monastics have to learn far more difficult gathas and sutras, with less time to study them. But the knowledge of cultivating the bodhi mind is powerful, whether you’re a monastic for real, or only for a week. It works for each of us. I found the challenge I was looking for, and it changed how I practice. So my challenge to each of you, as you read this, is to find ways in which the difficulties you might be experiencing in your life can be used to strengthen your daily Buddhism practice.

July 25, 2007

The monastic view of practice is to characterize it as a solid, constant lifestyle, in which the monk (or nun, but I'll just use monk for convenience) strives to forever maintain his bodhi mind. It's as if the monk strives to move through all aspects of life while in zazen, while in samadhi.

One of the masters asked us if we know anyone who is sixty or seventy years old. Of course, most people know someone who's in their sixties or seventies. The master then asked us how many meals that person must have eaten in his or her life. I imagined the number must be in the high thousands. Then the master asked us, what if you were seventy years old and had eaten thousands and thousands of meals, and you couldn't remember even a single one of them? Not because of memory problems, but because every time you sat down to eat, your mind what somewhere else? What if you never paid any attention to what you were doing, you were kinda on auto-pilot, and as a result you couldn't remember any meals?

Have you ever sat down at work, only to realize that you don't remember your commute? "I know I was in bed, then the alarm went off, and here I am..."?

This is a matter of practice. It's a matter of becoming a CULTIVATOR of the bodhi mind, and then practicing that cultivation diligently, throughout your daily life.

But how many of us lay folks can practice like the monastics? Here are a few considerations:

1. Don't encumber yourself with unnecesary worry or guilt about your practice. Just practice. If you want roses in your garden, you plant rose bushes, and then make sure the conditions are right for them to grow. Lying awake at night, worrying about how big the roses will be, won't make it happen any faster.

2. If your practice wavers, get it back on track. It's that simple. It's very much like your meditation - when your concentration wanders, bring it back. Keep your cultivation happening in the here & now.

3. Beyond upholding the precepts, avoid whatever will become an obstruction. Excessive luxury is an obstruction to your practice, for example - whether you've taken a precept vow against it or not.

This is the most important message for a new preceptee. Follow your practice, cultivate the bodhi mind in all things, in everything you do, and do it diligently without obstruction. Physical discomfort is irrelevant. Language is irrelevant. Tradition is irrelevant. The time of day is irrelevant. What matters in this life is practice, because without it, one cannot eventually achieve Nirvana.

June 26, 2007

So I'm looking online for a good image of Compassion. And here's what I've been able to find so far:

1. Pics of George W. Bush (linked to articles about how he doesn't have any, because he's a Republican, and we all know how evil Republicans are. Most of them don't even have mothers, you know. They were hatched in an evil laboratory deep below Camp David).

2. Copyrighted pics, complete with threats of prosecution if I use them on my blog, of compassionate soldiers in Iraq - truly moving images, that I wish I could use. Ah well. I started to work my way through the legalese about how much of their site I could link, thus running the story without 'stealing' the pics, but in the end it wasn't worth the effort.

3. Pics of Quan Yin statuettes for sale in somebody's online gift shop. You can get them in white, green or gold. There is one with a bronze finish, but the finish doesn't look like it took properly to the plastic.

4. Pics, at a ratio of about 5 to 1, of the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa. Those of you heaven-dogs who are followers of His Holiness will be pleased (and just to head off any potential arugments, that was NOT a dig at anyone, including the Dalai Lama).

So there ya go. As far as the World Wide Web is concerned, that's what Compassion means.

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And then, after checking out the Venerable Reverend Gyatso's blog A Monk Amok (link at right), I ran across this.

Karma Lama is a Nepalese monk in a Tibetan tradition, studying at a monastery in India. He's been diagnosed with kidney failure, and needs a transplant.

His family is a poor, traditional monastic family, and cannot provide the medical attention he needs.

I'm reminded of something I saw in a movie recently. I went looking for compassion, and instead I found an opportunity to be compassionate - an opportunity to take compassionate action. Please check out Karma Lama's family's blog, and see if there isn't some way you can help. http://help4karma.terapad.com/

June 19, 2007

The bell-bowl is a musical implement made from stone or jade, but the majority are made from metals such as bronze or steel and shaped like a bowl. It is a major percussion instrument used in Chinese Buddhist chanting sessions and Dharma functions and is sounded throughout ceremonies to punctuate the reading of religious texts. A short wooden rod is struck against the edge of the bell-bowl, creating a long resonating tone that floods the temple space with a field of acoustic energy.

Other than chanting sessions and Dharma functions, whenever an eminent monk or the Abbott of a temple is visiting another temple, as they enter the shrine to pay respect to the Buddha, the Da-Qing must be sounded three times as they make prostrations, following that, the Abbot of that temple will come to greet the guests.

The shapes of Da-Qing can be long, round, flat or small. The long ones can be seen in various thickness and length during festivals, and all of them create different sounds. The round shape is mostly seen in Buddhist temples. It has been mentioned that: " The shape of Qing used by the Sangha is different from those of music which are in the shape boards.... The Qing used by the Sangha is in the shape of a bowl." The flat Qing are those that are suspended outside the room of the temple's Abbott. If there is someone to meet the Abbott, the reverend on duty will sound the Qing as to notify the Abbott that someone is here. The small Qing is the one that controls the pace of everyone making prostrations to the Buddha.

It is recorded in the Sutras that in Buddha's time, Ananda (one of Buddha's ten major disciples) discovered a Da-Qing which was made from Bronze and around it was patterns of clouds carved in gold, and in the middle were patterns of nine dragons. When this Da-Qing is sounded a voice that preaches Buddha's teachings will permeate through the three thousand realms. However, after Buddha entered Nirvana this Da-Qing was taken back by king of the Dragon Palace.

One night, inside a Buddha hall, the Da-Qing complains to the Buddha's Statue: "Why is it that, being made from the same material we are treated in such different ways. You are placed in such a high position and people always pay respect to you, but they always hit me. This is so unfair!"

Buddha replied with compassion: "There is no need for you to complain. Did you know that through out the process of my creation, I had to go through the pain of being hit and carved by hammers and knifes. Anything that seemed imperfect in me will cause more refinement on my body. Now, all you have to go through is a few knocks and you are already complaining, so all you can ever be is a Da-Qing."

June 12, 2007

Now, those of you who've been regular Tengu House readers for a while (I think that's one or two people - thanks, by the way!) will recall that I have a particular fondness for the Heart Sutra.

The problem with the Heart Sutra is that there are sooo many translations. Well, in a way that's a problem, and in a way it isn't. I mean, one can never have too many explanations, right?

Although I'm a BLIA guy, and am studying a particular Chinese tradition of Buddhism, I've been using the translation of the Heart Sutra provided by Zen Mountain Monastery in New York (John Daido Loori, Roshi's Mountains and Rivers Order), which is American in scope and flavor. I've found it to be both concise and no-nonsense, which is pretty close to the impression I get of the great Roshi himself (from the videos I've viewed and the books I've read). Top-notch operation, ZMM, from what little I know of it.

But, that's not the translation in use within the BLIA. Of course, after close perusal of both translations, one finds that they say the same thing. BLIA's version was translated by Chinese/Taiwanese folks from the Mandarin, while ZMM's was translated by American folks from the Japanese. The BLIA version is more indepth, while the ZMM version is more short & sweet.

Okay, so without further yap-yap from me, here's the translation of the Heart Sutra currently in use within Fo Guang Shan and the BLIA (from Fo Guang Shan's main site):

The Heart Sutra (The Sutra of the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom)

Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom!

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha on Massed Vultures Mountain, together in one method with a great assembly of monks and a great assembly of bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One was absorbed in the concentration of the countless aspects on phenomena called Profound Illumination.

At that time also, Superior Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, was looking perfectly at the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom, perfectly looking at the emptiness of inherent existence of the five aggregates. Then, through the power of Buddha, the venerable Shariputra said to the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, "How should a son of the lineage train who wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom?"

Thus he spoke, and the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being replied to the venerable Shariputra as follows: "Shariputra, whatever son or daughter of the lineage wishes to engage in the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom should train in the following way: they should reflect perfectly and correctly on the emptiness on the five aggregates."

"Form is emptiness; emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is not other than emptiness. Likewise, sensation, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty. Shariputra, like this all phenomena are merely empty, having no characteristics. They are not produced and do not cease. They have no defilement and no separation from defilement. They have no increase and decrease.

"Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness. There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no tactile object, no phenomenon. There is no eye element and so forth, up to mind element, and also up to no element of mental consciousness. There is no ignorance, and so forth up to no ageing and death and no cessation of ageing and death.

Likewise, there is no suffering, origin, cessation, path; no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment.

"Therefore, Shariputra, because there is no attainment, all bodhisattvas rely on and abide in the perfection of wisdom; their minds have no obstructions and no fear. Passing utterly beyond perversity, they attain the final state beyond sorrow. Also, all the buddhas who perfectly reside in the three times, relying upon the perfection of wisdom, become manifest and perfect buddhas in the state of unsurpassed, perfect and complete enlightenment.

"Therefore, the mantra the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the equal-to-the-unequalled mantra, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, since it is not false, should be known as the truth. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is proclaimed:

TAYATHA GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SOHA

"Shariputra, a bodhisattva, a great being should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like this."

Then the Blessed One arose from that concentration and said to the Superior Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, that he had spoken well. "Good, good, O son of the lineage. It is like that. Since it is like that, just as you have revealed, the profound perfection of wisdom should be practiced in that way, and the tathagatas will also rejoice."

When the Blessed One had said this, the venerable Shariputra, the Superior Avalokiteshvara the bodhisattva, the great being, that entire assembly of disciples as well as the worldly beings-gods, humans, demi-gods and spirits, were delighted and highly praised what had been spoken by the Blessed One.

June 05, 2007

This week's Dharma Discussion post will discuss two points. The first is about Buddhist meditation, and the second is a bit of a clarification on the Four Noble Truths.

I've recently been asked why Buddhists meditate; more specifically, I've been asked the goal of meditation.

It can be said that there is no goal. As a meditator, whether you're in sitting, walking, sleeping, eating, or whatever meditation, there is no specific goal toward which you aspire.

You're simply meditating.

Meditating, in the Buddhist sense, means quieting the mind. It means quelling, or allowing to pass, all of the distracting thoughts that fill your mind from one moment to the next, thus preventing you from seeing your own Buddha Nature.

The way you do this is by watching your breath. Not regulating it, not correcting it, just watching it. Inhale, exhale. That's it. That's all you're doing. This what is meant by Buddhist meditation.*

Junior monk: Master, what is the most important thing about breathing?

Senior monk: To remember to do it.

Remember that the most important thing about meditation is to meditate. I prefer sitting meditation, in a room set up specifically for that purpose. But there are lots of other ways to do it, and lots of opportunities.

MORE ON THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

I've also recently been asked about the concept of the Four Noble Truths. See, we can list them in order and recite them forwards and backward and in every known language until we're blue and lightheaded, but until we discuss the concept, we're kinda lost. So toward that end, here's one way to think about the Four Noble Truths:

Let's say you're painting your bedroom wall. Now, a week after you paint it, the paint is already peeling. So there might be these four steps that you go through in your reasoning:

1. Realize that the paint is peeling, and that this is a problem. You must now do something about it.

2. Figure out what's causing the paint to peel. You find that it's the humidity in the room.

3. Now that you know the cause, you realize that you can prevent further peeling.

4. Placing a de-humidifier in the room will rectify the situation.

This is kinda the meaning of the Four Noble Truths, the concept behind their ordering. First, we realize that there is suffering. Next, that our suffering has a cause, and doesn't just exist in a vaccuum. Then, we find that, if we know the cause we can fix the problem. And finally, the Noble Eightfold Path is the fix.

Okay, enough for today. Comments?

* By that I mean according to my particular Buddhist tradition - there are many others, and I don't mean to imply that any of them is any less "Buddhist" or "correct" than mine.

May 30, 2007

We plotted, planned and huddled together over tea, and eventually came up with something of a lesson plan, study materials and discussion points, complete with Buddhist film and lit references, with the temple and its extensive library at our disposal - not to mention the knowledge and experience of a number of Buddhist monastics and lay devotees.

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We muddled through several iterations of the schedule. Second Friday - no, third Friday. Okay, fourth Friday...

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So excited was I that the group was getting off the ground that I went and yapped at my friends (all two of them) about it, even though they have no real interest in "the Buddhism thing." Come on out anyway, I admonished. There'll be tea!

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And that happened? A water line broke in Stafford on Friday morning. Because of the Memorial Day weekend, the county couldn't fix the problem until Saturday morning, which meant that the temple had to be shut down for Friday evening.

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So to reiterate, we're having our first meeting this Friday, as a make-up date for last Friday. All are invited - come one, come all. You don't need to bring anything except an interest in learning the Dharma (and maybe a pen and paper if ya wanna take notes). All the other wheres & whens are here: www.foguangshan.blogspot.com.

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I hope everyone who was interested in coming last Friday will still be able to come this Friday. I realize it's a bit of a change, and that changes sometimes fall on the inconvenient side, but y'all should see how har the folks at the temple have worked to make this happen. I know I'll be there.

The Buddha divided the Noble Eightfold Path into three sections, which I think of as foundations for the practitioner. These are wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental development.

We've already discussed how Right Understanding and Right Thought make up the practitioner's foundation of wisdom, and how Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood comprise the practitioner's foundation of ETHICAL CONDUCT.

The final three steps on the Noble Eightfold Path are Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Together, they comprise the practitioner’s foundation of MENTAL DEVELOPMENT.

What is mental development?

Beats the hell outta me.

For me, though, mental development speaks to the ability to condition the mind, as a means of creating the ability to pacify ones misperceptions.

This samsaric world is just as illusory for me as it is for anyone else. The goal, then, for a beginning practitioner, might be to a) realize that it’s my mind that perpetuates that illusion, and b) to begin to stop my mind from creating further illusion. This is mental development.

If illusory, deluded perception is the problem, then obviously the first step (once the practitioner has recognized that problem) is to begin preventing the mind from making it worse. We do this is many ways.

Meditation, mindful practice, and study are three that I can think of right off. Effort speaks to the proper use that place where intention and action meet, and concentration speaks to meditation. Even a simple definition of mindfulness, on the other hand, can be explored far beyond the limits of this blog. For this exploration, I recommend The Miracle of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

May 24, 2007

Okay, I don't have a clue what to call the group. I was thinking along the lines of "English Language Dharma Group" but then that started to sound too, I dunno, academic or something. Plus, I didn't like the idea of using "English Language" in the name of the group, out of fear of alienating the non-English-speaking devotees.

I suppose, of course, that if someone doesn't speak English, there's not much chance of bothering them by choosing the wrong word in English. But, see, that's the whole reason for the group in the first place.

Buddhism, in general, is still in its first century, really, in North America - and as such, it's sometimes difficult to find quality, locally-based guidance in English. Usually, the reason for this is that the Buddhist instruction that does exist locally, if it's there at all, is intended for the benefit of the Buddhist community, meaning the immigrant-from-a-Buddhist-country community. So the instruction that is available is in whatever other language. In our case, here in the Houston area, it's hard to find Chinese Buddhism that's not in Chinese.

Go figure.

So we've put together the Buddhism in English group. English-Speaking Instruction in Buddhism class. I dunno. But we'll figure it out.

What I do know is this: It's a free, two-hours-a-month Dharma discussion, that will meet from 7PM to 9(ish)PM on the fourth Friday of each month at the Chung Mei Buddhist Temple in Stafford. Check out the link below (or the one for the temple on the right, somewhere) for directions. The group will be led by my teacher, the Venerable Reverend Miao Hong, a Buddhist nun of the Fo Guang Shan order from Taiwan. I hadn't really settled on what kind of group meeting to have, what format to use, etc - but Rev. Hong has it down to a science, and she has all the materials in place and ready to go! She was just waiting for someone to show some interest.

Fo Guang Shan, one of the largest and most influential Buddhist orders in the world, exists for the purpose of propagating the Dharma worldwide. The Chung Mei Temple was built as an extension of that tradition, and exists, really, for the purpose of providing a place for Houston's Taiwanese/Chinese community to meet and observe its Buddhist tradition, and to introduce us Americans to it.

Toward that end, I'd like to invite anyone and everyone in the Houston area who has any interest at all in Buddhism, even if it's just a bit of curiosity, to join us tomorrow evening at the temple. Rest assured that we are not looking to win converts (not something we do), and we're not out to compare our religion to yours, or anything like that. So here's all that same info, packaged differently:

WHAT: an informal English language Dharma study and discussion group, open to all

WHEN: fourth (4th) Friday of each month (that's tomorrow), 7PM to around 9PM

COST: free, although of course the temple will be happy to accept donations of any size.

WEBSITE: Well, I'm glad you asked. There's this one: http://foguangshan.blogspot.com/, which a simple blog for the group, maintained by me but accessible to all; There's the site for the temple, www.houstonbuddhism.org; and then anything major will also be announced here at Tengu House. You can also call the temple at 281-495-3100 (or even fax them at 281-495-6622). Their email address is info@houstonbuddhism.org.

There - that should be any last bit of information anyone should ever need. If you're here in the area and would like to drop by, I invite - nay, implore - you to do so. If not, I may be able to post some of the material covered. Thanks!